This afternoon I had no idea what to make for dinner. I did have a lamb chop and some pearl onions I did not use for Thanksgiving dinner.

I remembered my mom would make a simple braised piece of meat, usually beef, in a small metal braising pan. I have that pan now..

I decided to put it to use and make a quick version of lamb stifado.

Regular lamb stifado is more complex than this version. You would brown the meat before simmering really slow on the stovetop with tomato, spices and onions. Sometimes with a potato in there also.

I decided to skip the browning. I just tossed the lamb pieces with some olive oil and tomato paste and placed it all in the pan with the pearl onions, a cinnamon stick, cloves, allspice, a piece of garlic, and a splash of red wine to give it a braising liquid.

It was kind of a tight fit, and put in maybe a 1/4 cup of wine. Any more would bubble right out.

Placed it in a 350 oven and let it go until the meat was fall apart tender, about 90 minutes. Wow. It was fantastic.

Remember this option if you have a spare piece of meat to cook off, or for a night alone, or just a small main.

This is a keeper. Here’s the recipe:

QUICK LAMB STIFADO

• 1.5 lb lamb, cut into 1 inch pieces and fat trimmed off. I used a leg slice
• 10 pearl onions
• 2 cloves garlic, left whole
• 1.5 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove
• 2 allspice berries
• 1/4 cup red wine

Preheat oven to 350

Cut lamb into one inch pieces. You can use lamb leg, lamb chops, whatever you have. trim the fat and place pieces in a bowl

Add olive oil, tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss together.

Place into small pan that has a lid. Tuck in onions, garlic, cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf and allspice berries.

Add just enough wine to keep from getting dry. I used 1/4 of a cup. It went about halfway up the level of the meat.

Let it cook for about 90 minutes. Check to make sure it is not dry. It’s ready when the meat is fork tender.

I served it with a bunch of lemony roasted potatoes.

This surely can be made with beef, chicken, or pork also. Give it a shot!

OPA!